You are correct, your population is an educational organization.  In the
business world all the 60 year olds in power understand is "incremental"
means is you do not have all the data.

My favorite way to explain TSM is it creates one FULL backup and continually
keeps it current saving previous versions to the files based on whatever
criteria you want.  The benefit is, TSM spends the minimal time performing
the backup operations.  And, can provide the ability to protect you against
the loss of accidental or malicious file deletions.

This may not be the best way to explain it but at least I avoid the
dissertation on the definition of "incremental".

Paul D. Seay, Jr.
Technical Specialist
Naptheon Inc.
757-688-8180


-----Original Message-----
From: asr AT UFL DOT EDU [mailto:asr AT UFL DOT EDU]
Sent: Tuesday, August 13, 2002 9:26 AM
To: ADSM-L AT VM.MARIST DOT EDU
Subject: Re: Incremental Backup (full/partial)


=> On Mon, 12 Aug 2002 21:26:34 -0400, "Seay, Paul" <seay_pd AT NAPTHEON DOT 
COM>
said:


> The INCREMENTAL command should have been obsoleted years ago with only
> a compatibility and a new set of commands FULLBACKUP,
> UPDATEFULLBACKUP, and PARTIALLYUPDATEFULLBACKUP put in its place so
> that customers would not be so darn confused.  The terminology
> incremental is just flat confusing.  I spend so much time explaining
> it to new users it is ridiculous.  There have been sales of TSM lost
> because of this confusion.


I respectfully, but emphatically, disagree.

Anyone who can understand a "Full / Update" can understand an incremental:
It's a "Full / Update" on a file-by-file basis.  It's simple enough that I
find that many end-users get it during initial contact.  I haven't yet had a
problem with prospective admins.  Maybe we've got different populations.


It's even easier to explain if you begin with the usually-familiar backup
scheme of

1) Do a full backup
2) Back up all files written more recently than the most recent backup.

and illustrate the weaknesses of that approach.


As for the name itself... There's a catch-phrase around my workplace:
"Precision in language".  Say what you mean, as precisely as you can manage.
Standard english doesn't have a word or phrase that means:


   Heirarchically scan a filesystem, noting discrepancies between metadata
   present on the filesystem and metadata recorded in a database.  Where the
   filesystem metadata differs from the database metadata, copy the file
   entities involved to a remote location, and update the database to
   reflect the current state of the filesystem


So we invented one.  Let's not replace it with a cute-and-fuzzy Public
Relations word.  It won't help the users understand a complex concept, if we
dress it up as a simple one, and tell them to ignore all the corners.
They'll just bark their shins on them.  ("But I didn't change any of those
files, I just 'touch'ed them!", 200G later...)


Backups are an arcane subdomain of an arcane discipline.  We do a disservice
to present them as simple, unless we first -make- them simple.  I haven't
figured how to do that out yet. ;)


- Allen S. Rout